July 30, 1990: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is effectively banned from baseball for life, as commissioner Fay Vincent forces him to permanently give up day-to-day operations of the team. Steinbrenner had paid $40,000 to a small-time gambler in an attempt to gather damaging information on Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield. Steinbrenner had failed to pay Winfield’s foundation $300,000 as promised in his contract (again), and Winfield had sued the owner (again). Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated in 1993.
The vitriol between owner and player began in December, 1980, when Steinbrenner signed Winfield away from the San Diego Padres with a landmark 10-year, $15 million contract. But, somehow unbeknownst to Steinbrenner, Winfield’s agent slid in a cost-of-living clause that increased the deal’s value to $23 million. Steinbrenner and his people didn’t calculate the compounding cost of the clause, and he realized it the morning after he signed the contract when he read it in the paper.
Steinbrenner was incensed, feeling he had been tricked before Winfield had even been to the plate as a Yankee. It only got worse when Winfield struggled in the 1981 World Series loss to the L.A. Dodgers. In his 10 seasons with the Yankees, Winfield batted .290 and averaged more than 20 home runs. But New York never got back to the Series while he was there. In 1985, Steinbrenner famously slammed Winfield in the media: “Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.”
Included in Winfield’s contract was a requirement that Steinbrenner donate $300,000 per year to Winfield’s foundation, which was dedicated to underprivileged children. Once he felt he was duped, Steinbrenner repeatedly defaulted on his payments, and Winfield sued him in 1981, 1983 and 1989. Steinbrenner’s payment to the gambler, Howard Spira, aimed to dig up dirt on Winfield in order to void the contract. Spira then tried to extort Steinbrenner for another $110,000, and when Steinbrenner went to law enforcement, Major League Baseball found out about the scheme and investigated. And Vincent took rather decisive action.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
